This page aims to support schools in preparing their agendas and minutes for meetings of Boards of Governors (BoG). Some of the information is intentionally repeated in both the minutes and agenda guidance documents for ease of reference. It is recommended that the following information is read in full.
Guide to Meetings and Committees
Guidance on organising and running meetings
Part VII of the Scheme of Management sets out procedures and guidelines for holding meetings and committees. The Board of Governors is required to operate in accordance with the Scheme of Management which reflects good management, practices and procedures.
Articles 32 to 61 of the Scheme for the Management of Controlled Schools give comprehensive guidance on running meetings and committees including the frequency of meetings, remote attendance and how agendas and minutes should be structured.
You can view the Scheme of Management here.
Emergencies
Article 22 of the Scheme for the Management of Controlled Schools covers the power of Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of the Board of Governors to act in cases of urgency.
Non-Attendance at Meetings of School Governors
Article 8(3) of the Scheme for the Management states:
Where a voting or co-opted member is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Board of Governors, or for six months consecutively, whichever is the greater period, the secretary shall report the matter at the next meeting and, unless the Board of Governors is satisfied that his/her failure to attend was occasioned by illness or other unavoidable cause, the member shall be deemed to have resigned his/her membership and shall cease to be a member.
Routinely, the principal as secretary to the BOG will have an overview of the Governor attendance and will discuss this with the Chairperson where an emerging issue is noted. This may differ from school to school. The priority is to act promptly to identify any issues affecting a governor’s ability to attend meetings on a regular basis.
Where the chair/principal are not satisfied with the reasons given for absence, the chair/principal may wish to make contact with the governor to ascertain the nature of the absence and inform the governor of the Scheme of Management requirement regarding attendance. This call should be pastoral in nature, and should seek to identify any support the governor may require to improve attendance.
The Chairperson may wish to contact the School Governance Service for guidance on how to proceed.
How to Report a Governor Resignation
Arrangements for Notifying Governor Resignations from EA Governors and Governors in Controlled Schools
Notes
The following outlines the means by which governor resignations should be notified to EA. Governors are appointed to various designations through separate arrangements, and the arrangements for governors to notify their resignation differ accordingly.
Where the governor is required to notify their resignation to a body other than EA, that body should notify EA at the earliest opportunity by contacting govsupport@eani.org.uk. Relevant bodies should ensure they have received confirmation of a governor’s resignation in writing, (and forward a copy to EA wherever possible).
| Governor Designation | Appointment Process by which the governor was appointed | Governor to notify their resignation to the relevant body as follows | Next Steps | Notes / Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application to EA | EA | Governor informs EA | Governors can notify their resignation to govsupport@eani.org.uk |
| Application to DE | DE | DE informs EA | Governors can notify their resignation to govapps@education-ni.gov.uk |
| School-led Election Process | School | School copies letter of resignation to EA | Parents will usually write to the principal as secretary to the board of governors |
| School-led Election Process | School | School copies letter of resignation to EA | Teachers will usually write to the principal as secretary to the board of governors |
| Nomination from those with ‘Rights of Nomination’ | Nominating body (or to the school where the governor is unclear who the nominating body is)
| Nominating body informs EA
| Those with rights of nomination are routinely church bodies, or other bodies from which the schools historically transferred |
| School-led process routinely an election type process | School | School copies letter of resignation to EA | Post Primary Transferors will usually write to the principal as secretary to the board of governors. Where a Post Primary Transferor is also resigning a governor role at Primary School(s), they should also notify the relevant nominating body as outlined at point 5 above. |
| Nomination from Nominating Trustees | Nominating body (or to the school where the governor is unclear who the nominating body is) | Nominating body informs EA | |
| Application to EA | EA | Governor informs EA | Transferor or Trustee Governors are appointed directly by EA in certain circumstances. Governors can notify their resignation to govsupport@eani.org.uk |
| Discussed agreed and noted in the minutes of a board of governors’ meeting. | Board of governors | Board of governors informs EA | Usually principal as secretary to board of governors will notify EA of the decision to appoint, and of the resignation, and will forward the relevant board of governor minutes. |
Co-opted Governors
The Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 The Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 enables schools to co-opt up to three non-voting members to the Board of Governors. Article 122 states “The voting members of the Board of Governors of a grant‐aided school may co‐opt not more than three persons to be members of the Board of Governors of the school”.
A co-opted governor will normally bring an area of specialist knowledge or experience to the governing body of a school. A co-opted governor is a person appointed by the Board of Governors who, in the opinion of the governors, has the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. They will also need to be eligible to be a governor in line with the relevant scheme of management. Scheme of Management | Education Authority Northern Ireland.
In controlled schools, where the voting members of the board of Governors agree to co-opt any persons to be a member, this should be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The principal, as secretary, should write to EA to provide details of the co-opted governor(s), including the person’s contact details using the following link (govsupport@eani.org.uk). An officer of the School Governance Service will contact the person directly to ensure that they are eligible in line with the scheme of management, by asking that they complete a declaration form.
The School Governance Service will also arrange for each confirmed appointment to be noted by the Membership and Teaching Appointments Committee (MTAC) at the earliest opportunity.
The Scheme for the Management of Controlled Schools (SOM) Scheme for the Management of Controlled Schools refers to co-opted governors in different Articles, and schools and co-opted governors should familiarise themselves with any references.
As a brief guide it would be useful to be aware of the following:
- A co-opted governor is a non-voting member of the Board of Governors
- Each co-opted governor’s term of office should be specified, and should be no more than the term of office for the full Board of Governors (SOM Article 7)
- A co-opted governor is expected to resign in the normal way should they wish to discontinue. The school should notify EA that they have resigned. (SOM Article 8)
- Co-opted governors should be named in the annual report of the board of governors. (SOM Article 19)
- Co-opted governors can only be co-opted by the Board of Governors and not by a Committee thereof, or by the principal. (SOM Article 23 (ii) and Article 27 (1)(b))
- Co-opted governors shall not sit on a Committee convened to carry out functions under the EA Teaching Appointments Scheme. (SOM Article 24 (6)(a))
- Co-opted governors must disclose all family or other relevant relationships, in writing in the same way as voting governors are required to do, and shall withdraw from meetings when required. (SOM Articles 45 and 46)
- Co-opted governors must disclose all pecuniary interests, in writing in the same way as voting governors are required to do and shall withdraw from meetings when required. (SOM Article 48)
- A co-opted governor cannot vote on any matter, except at a Committee established to consider appeals against staff dismissal. (SOM Article 55)
- As a non-voting member of the Board of Governors, a governor who has been co-opted is not permitted to chair any meeting of the Board of Governors of Committee thereof. Governors may be required to vote on any matter, and in the event of an equal division of votes, the chair has a second or casting vote. (SOM Article 55 refers)
The following good practice guidance may also be helpful:
- Where a Board of Governors agrees to co-opt a governor to provide support with a particular item(s) of business, they may determine that the governor should only be invited to attend meetings to discuss that item, or they may determine that the governor will be invited to attend all meetings of the Board of Governors. The co-opted governor will be required to declare any potential conflicts of interests and withdraws from meeting as required by the relevant Articles in the SOM.
- Co-opted governors are also encouraged to attend governor training in the same way as all other governors.
- Co-option should always be in the best interests of the school.
Guidance for Agenda Setting and Minute Taking
This section aims to support schools in preparing their agendas and minutes for meetings of Boards of Governors (BoG). It is recommended that the following information is read in full.
Minute Taking Guidance
Minutes and associated information may be released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Certain information is protected from disclosure under the various exemptions of the Act. To find out more visit the FOI School Resource Hub.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) expects BoGs of schools in Northern Ireland to publish the minutes, agendas and papers considered at BoG meetings, (for example, publication on the school’s website) - unless an exemption applies (See below for more information) to the information or parts of it. To find out more visit the Definition Document NI Schools - ICO.
Examples of an exemption
- You do not hold the information;
- The information is exempt under one of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) exceptions, or its release is prohibited under another statute (eg UK GDPR);
- The information is readily and publicly available from an external website. Such information may have been provided either by you or on your behalf. You must provide a direct link to that information;
- The information is archived, out of date or otherwise inaccessible; or
- It would be impractical or resource-intensive to prepare the material for routine release.
Minutes should not include names of anyone discussed as part of the business of the meeting. Where it is necessary to identify a staff member or other person, for accountability to EA HR or other services, and where the details are not contained within a separate confidential working paper (See below for more information), the minimum amount of information necessary to identify the staff member may be included. (Any release of the minutes for the purposes of publication, FOI or SAR requests etc. should ensure that all personal data is redacted, as per the scheme of management article 61 (2).
Definition of a working paper
A working paper is a document containing sensitive information to be discussed at a board of governors’ meeting. The paper is not circulated in advance of the meeting with papers for the meeting, due to the confidential nature of the information contained. The paper is not circulated after the meeting with the minutes of the meeting, again due to the confidential nature of the information. The paper is stored in the same manner as in-committee minutes, in a secure location accessible to a limited number of people.
Scheme for the Management of Controlled Schools
The Scheme for the Management of Controlled Schools gives clear guidance in relation to the management of governor minutes. The relevant articles are:
Recording of Minutes – Article 58
Contents of Minutes – Article 59
Preparing for a Meeting
The principal as secretary to the BoG may be supported at a meeting by a suitably skilled minute taker. This would enable them to focus on the discussion and contribute as appropriate while also ensuring that minutes are appropriately recorded. It should be noted that if another person joins a meeting as a minute taker, they should not act as a governor, i.e. become involved in discussions. Such arrangements should be discussed and agreed with the BoG and noted in the minutes.
The following points are essential to note when taking minutes of a BoG meeting.
Minutes should:
- Indicate the appropriate term of office, the date, time and location of each meeting, and should indicate when papers were circulated to governors;
- Be consistent in their style and content;
- Include the date, time and venue;
- Include the names of those in attendance and the person recording the minutes;
- Record apologies received;
- Record when people enter/leave the meeting;
- Be written in plain, easily understood language;
- Avoid technical language and the use of abbreviations where possible and explain when they cannot be avoided - give acronyms in full when first mentioned;
- Provide a clear, accurate, transparent record of meetings to allow those not in attendance at the meeting to understand what was discussed and agreed;
- Record deliberations, decisions and actions to be taken without recording every discussion verbatim; minutes are a summary of the discussions that took place;
- Summarise points made for and against a proposal, the reasons to support these points, and the names of those governors who propose and second the decision;
- Other than where governors propose or second decisions, only record individual contributions made during general discussions at meetings, on the request and/or with the agreement of the contributing governor;
- Include as attachments, all documents and reports considered at the meeting.
The Role of the Chairperson
To ensure that an accurate and comprehensive record of a meeting is made, the Chairperson should assist the secretary to the board of governors or the person taking the minutes by:
- Agreeing the items to be included on the agenda in advance of the meeting;
- Following agenda items and informing the minute taker of any departures from the agreed agenda;
- Summarising specific points, decisions or courses of action agreed for each specific agenda item before moving on to the next item on the agenda;
- Where necessary, and in agreement with those present, providing specific guidance to the minute taker on what to record for a particular agenda item where lengthy discussion has occurred, or a complex issue has been discussed;
- Review the minutes when they are drafted; and
- Sign the minutes after they are agreed by governors at the next meeting.
- When emails are being sent to groups of governors, the ‘Bcc’ convention should be used to ensure that email addresses are not shared with others.
- When documents containing sensitive information are sent, they should be password protected. Recipients should be sent a separate email with the password required to access documents emailed.
If you require any of the above resources in an accessible format, please contact School Governance on 028 9047 0255.